Cincinnati Haunted Handbook. Jeff Morris
For those readers who are not great at following directions but who have a GPS unit, we have also included the addresses, which you can plug into your GPS.
The other section in each chapter details how to visit these haunted locations. Mike and I certainly could have used that information during our moonlight searches. We had to learn the hard way which locations closed after dark and which ones the police frequented at night, hoping to catch cars stopping in the middle of the road flashing their lights. This section in each chapter tells you the best way to visit these locations and gives you what we feel is the best chance of actually encountering a spirit.
Perhaps my favorite aspect of this book is the daunting number of locations included in it—and all of them just a short drive away. In the past, I’ve found myself flipping through many other ghost books looking for stories of nearby locations. I would end up reading only a couple of stories, ones focused on places I knew.
In the Haunted Handbook you’ll find one hundred locations within the Greater Cincinnati area, which is large enough to offer quite a number of stories but small enough that local people have some sense of where to go. We did our best to ensure that no two locations in the book were more than an hour apart. We’ve found at least one place in nearly every area of the city.
We feel that this book is the quintessential guide for hunting ghosts in the Greater Cincinnati area—as well as an entertaining and informative guide for those hunters who don’t want to leave their chairs. We hope you find it interesting, and we hope future ghosthunters learn about the history and the ghosts here in this great city.
Enjoy.
IMPORTANT: Read this before you start the book!
Before we begin, and before you begin your ghostly adventures around Cincinnati, it is imperative that you understand the following three points.
Keep your own safety in mind at all times.
Many of these locations can be dangerous to visit, especially at night and especially if you’re not constantly careful and aware of your surroundings. Many of the ghost stories take place on remote roads where you are required to stop your car to see the resident spirits. If you decide to stop and wait, make sure you are aware of other cars on the road. You have to make sure that if a car is approaching, you are able to get out of the way.
Also, there are several locations that are not in the safest neighborhoods of the city. While you are in these areas, make sure you’re safe. Don’t make yourself and whatever expensive equipment you bring targets for someone out in the middle of the night with somewhat darker intentions than yourself.
Cincinnati already has enough ghosts. We don’t want you to create another one.
Obey the law.
Unfortunately, some of the paranormal phenomena in this book occurs at night in places that close after dark. Do not trespass in these places! Look for signs that state visiting hours, and if they are closed do not enter them without permission. The possibility of seeing a ghost is not worth the probability of getting arrested or fined for trespassing.
This book is not meant to encourage you to break the law. If we state that something is illegal, simply do not do it. You will suffer the consequences and will encourage tougher regulations at these places to prevent people from breaking the law in the future.
Show respect.
While all of the locations in this book are reputed to have some sort of ghostly activity, all of the locations also serve another purpose. Cemeteries are places of memories and reverence. If you are yelling and screaming when you enter a cemetery, this is an unforgivable sign of disrespect to both those who are buried there and to those whose friends and family are buried there. Some of the roads in this book are near houses. If you are playing around on these roads in the middle of the night, you could wake up people in the neighborhood. These people are sure to call the police, and the police are sure to keep closer watch on these areas and ruin these ghost stories for the rest of us.
There are also businesses in this book. While these businesses are reputed to be haunted, the ghosts are not their main source of revenue. These businesses have to continue to operate even with their ghosts, so if you enter these places looking for ghosts, make sure that you are not disrupting the regular flow of business.
As the author of this book, I cannot take responsibility for those who choose to disregard these warnings. This book is meant to encourage people to learn about and even experience the ghosts and history of Cincinnati, not to in any way hurt anyone or to upset the community. Keep your adventures legal, keep them respectful, and above all keep them safe.
HAPPY GHOSTING!
Gravestone carving at Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum, profile.
SECTION I
cemeteries
Cemeteries are often haunted, as if the dead have a hard time leaving their physical bodies behind. Much of their world seems to consist of wandering aimlessly through cemeteries or repeating trivial gestures that they often did in life. While many of these actions may seem meaningless, we need to make sure that when the dead do have something important to say…
we’re listening.
Adath Israel Cemetery
Beth Israel Cemetery
Congress Green Cemetery
Darby Lee Historic Cemetery
Hopewell Cemetery
Kings Island Cemetery
Miamitown Cemetery
Millville Cemetery
Price Hill Potter’s Field
Reily Cemeteries
Rose Hill Cemetery
Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum
Wesleyan Cemetery
Woodside Cemetery
ADATH ISRAEL CEMETERY
1661 Sunset Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45238
directions
Take I-75 to the Harrison Avenue exit. Follow the signs that direct you to Queen City Avenue. Follow Queen City Avenue a little more than a mile up the hill and turn left onto Sunset Avenue. Follow Sunset for less than a mile. Adath Israel will be on your left just after you pass the intersection with Guerley Road.
history
When the cholera epidemic hit Cincinnati in the 1840s, the only Jewish cemetery in the city filled up quickly. As a result, many Jewish communities throughout the area created more cemeteries. Adath Israel Cemetery in Price Hill was one of them.
This cemetery eventually was filled to capacity, and the congregation of the temple started another one elsewhere in the city and discontinued burials at the Price Hill location, but this is the one that is reputed to be haunted.
In 2008, a group vandalized several headstones, and the cemetery now is watched more closely by law enforcement and by concerned neighbors at night.
ghost story
Most of the ghost stories from this cemetery take place in the caretaker’s building. This red-brick building sits within the cemetery itself. The paranormal events tend to occur in the basement. A chair will move around all by itself. Lights in the basement will come on by themselves. Other times voices and figures will be seen and heard throughout the basement